Bridgeport and Vibes ask: Is it worth it?

Brian Lockhart

Updated 9:57 pm, Saturday, July 21, 2012

BRIDGEPORT -- This weekend it's all about the peace, love and happiness, but soon organizers of the Gathering of the Vibes have to focus on profits, expenses and contract negotiations.

The five-year deal between the city and Ken Hays, the music festival's organizer, that allowed him to mount the Vibes in Seaside Park each summer since 2008 is expiring.

"I love Bridgeport," said Hays, who grew up in Greenwich and lives in Weston. "The city's come so far and I think the Vibes is really positive. I'm hopeful people can take another peek at Bridgeport."

Those positive feelings aside, Hays is a businessman who has to have an eye on his bottom line. He said he could halve the $4 million cost of producing the event were he to return to its origins in upstate New York.

"Everyone's questioning me -- `Is this our last year at Seaside Park?' " Hays said. "The honest answer is I hope not, but I really don't know." He said he is lining up other, undisclosed options for consideration.

The economic benefits to the city are mostly anecdotal -- neither the city nor area business leaders have conducted an objective cost-benefit analysis -- but it is clear the Vibes brings tourists and also contracts with Connecticut companies for stage crews, musical equipment, staff meals and toilet facilities.

City councilmen and parks commissioners contacted about the expiration of the deal with Hays said they want the Vibes to return in some capacity, though some suggested under different terms.

"It's wonderful they come here and we open our doors to a lot of people that don't live in Bridgeport," said Councilwoman Leticia Colon, D-131, whose district includes Seaside Park.

Mayor Bill Finch in a statement called the Vibes "an exciting addition to Bridgeport's vibrant arts and culture scene."

"We will always remain open to offerings that help the vitality of the arts and culture of our city," Finch said.

`What a long strange trip, it's been'

Established in New York shortly after Grateful Dead founder Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, the festival bounced around New York from Purchase to Croton Point Park to Plattsburgh before arriving in Bridgeport in 1999 and 2000.

Hays brought the Vibes back to New York, producing shows in Red Hook and Mariaville, returning to Bridgeport in 2007.

Under the current 2008 contract with the city, Hays pays a $40,000 fee to secure space at Seaside Park and provides two $50,000 bonds, one guaranteeing the performance and one for park repairs. The contract also requires that the promoter must clean up and restore Seaside and is responsible for reimbursing the city for police overtime and utility fees.

The agreement also requires Hays "make a suitable contribution to benefit Bridgeport parks to show (his) good faith and appreciation for the right to stage the event." So, for example, Hays funded the splash pad at Luis Munoz Marin Park.

The Vibes also raised $25,000 for the families of two Bridgeport firefighters killed battling a 2010 blaze.

Hays declined to specify what terms would bring him back to Bridgeport, but hoped to begin discussions soon.

"I hope to have enough sleep in me that I'll be able to sit down and crunch the numbers and see what we're able to do," he said.

He said the base fee of $40,000 is "totally fair and reasonable." But Hays said it costs more to stage a concert in a city park versus a rural venue with existing infrastructure and Connecticut being a more expensive state than New York.

Hays said the assumption that he pockets $1 million in profits after each Vibes is wrong.

"That's not even close," he said. "There have been years I lost money because of weather, competition or people didn't like the lineup of bands."

In 2009, when the recession and rain-drenched weekend hurt attendance, Hays also floated going back the following summer to a rural New York setting.

But this weekend Hays acknowledged there are plenty of good business reasons to return to Seaside Park.

"Seaside is just a spectacular venue. I'm looking over Long Island Sound right now and blue skies and colorful flags flying. There's nothing like it," Hays said. "And to reinvent the wheel (at a new venue) is something I don't really enjoy doing. It's an enormous task with a huge learning curve."

Is it A fair deal for Bridgeport?

Mark Marko, the city's parks commission chairman, said it might not be appropriate to negotiate in the press, but he would happily offer Hays the same contract terms if the promoter signed tomorrow.

"Kenny makes money. It's not a charity," Marko said. "But how many give back as much as this guy has? I haven't seen it in my time."

But Colon suggested city officials attempt to get more money from Hays than the $40,000 park fee.

"The cost of living's gone up ... If everything's gone up, why can't we get another $10,000, $20,000 more?" she said.

Resident John Marshall Lee, a budget watchdog, said considering all the money involved, there should be more paperwork available for lawmakers and the public to judge the pros and cons of the current contract and any future deals.

"Open the contract, account for all the numbers and make the whole deal transparent," Marshall Lee said.

Finch spokeswoman Elaine Ficarra last week said Vibes has paid all park upkeep costs and donated nearly $100,000 to the department for various park improvement projects. But Ficarra was unable to provide related paperwork detailing how much Vibes has paid to restore Seaside Park over the past four summers.

She also could not produce details or paperwork about police overtime costs for that same period of time.

"Our Acting Finance Director('s)...offices just moved at the end of last week from City Hall to Government Center and they are still in a bit of flux," Ficarra said. "She'll continue to look and we'll do our best to get you the correct information as soon as we possibly can."

Marko said Hays must have fulfilled his contract for the past four years because the terms allow the city to sever the deal otherwise.

"I can't speak that I absolutely know that but I believe that to be true," Marko said. "I'm sure I would have heard if they didn't."

Spending money in Connecticut

Hays said Vibes pays $600,000 annually to the city and city businesses and another $780,000 to other businesses around Connecticut.

While attendees do stay at hotels, some critics argue too many remain in the self-contained festival, camping on site and buying food from Vibes' vendors rather than venturing out into the city to dine and shop.

The city has not conducted an economic analysis of the Vibes, but Ficarra said one is planned before the contract is renewed.

Businesses that contract with the Vibes said it is a boon.

The downtown Metric Bar and Grill for the past few festivals has catered the festival's staff of 800 people, providing breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night meals.

"Yesterday when we were doing lunch three of the guys at the event came out here (to the restaurant) because they tried the food and liked it," said Cindy Haynes, Metric's office manager. "It is good business. And it's good for Bridgeport."

Bridgeport-based A Royal Flush provides Vibes' bathroom facilities. Co-owner Debbie Russo said while her business services events from Boston to Delaware, it is great to have such a large client on her home turf.

Brian Munroe, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Employees Local 74 in New Haven, said eight stagehands worked two days at the Vibes, four a third day, and 12 return this week to disassemble the staging, earning $9,000 in total wages and benefits. He said the event contributes to the union's health/welfare fund.

"I am a Bridgeport resident myself and I think that the Vibes is a great showcase for both Seaside Park and the arts," Munroe said.

"It's very important to us every year. It's big. I sent truckloads down there. Truckloads," said owner David Foster. "There's just not that many (festival producers) that are going to come to Connecticut and invest in a seven-figure weekend. The only one I do know is Ken Hays."